As I've said, they may come your way. But if they do, what will they think when you unveil your first post-election budget? In May, a memo by your Office of Management and Budget was leaked to The Washington Post. The memo notified federal departments that cuts are coming in 2006 -- virtually across the board. The very same programs you have been citing in your campaign -- education and Head Start; nutrition for women, infants and children; homeownership; job training -- are all slated for substantial reductions.
Last time around, compassionate conservatism was a head fake -- we looked left, you went right. Running this play again may win you the game, but over time, it will cost you and the country. If your convention speech implies, again, that compassion is just around the corner, and you fail, again, to deliver, your second term will be marked by greater distrust, wider division and deeper disaffection with the political process.
The Post's opinion and commentary section runs every Sunday.
• Outlook Section
| | |
|
As a second-termer, you wouldn't have to face the electorate again. But you would have to reckon with the choices you've made and the cynicism they invite.
"When I act," you said in 2000, "you will know my reasons. And when I speak, you will know my heart." Four years later, for all the talk about straight talk, your heart and your motives mystify many of us, at least on the Democratic side. But we have learned a great deal about your values and priorities.
You haven't made apologies, haven't acknowledged mistakes. Your policies have proudly, unabashedly declared that deficits don't matter; that tax cuts for the well-to-do create jobs for the rest of us; that America's allies are more a hindrance than a help; that security concerns trump civil liberties.
These, I think it's now safe to say, are your beliefs. Your supporters salute them, your detractors deplore them. Either way, your record reflects them -- and so, therefore, should your speech. A ringing defense of these principles, grounded in your policies, would define your first term and chart a very clear course for a second.
"If you share these beliefs," you could say, "then lend me your support. If you don't, then let the chips fall where they may. Either way, let it be said that I made my case and stood my ground. Let it be said I had the courage of my convictions."
Jeff Shesol is a founding partner of West Wing Writers, a speechwriting firm in Washington. He was deputy director of speechwriting for President Bill Clinton.
